The annual revenue of members of Harsh Mariwala-led ASCENT Foundation crosses Rs. 83,000 crore

FMCG veteran and Marico Chairman Harsh Mariwala said the annual revenue of the ASCENT members, his peer-to-peer, not-for-profit learning community, is more than Rs. 83,000 crore. While speaking at the ASCENT Summit in Mumbai, he underscored the importance of entrepreneurs in the growth of a country. Individual members’ turnover at ASCENT ranges from Rs. 1 crore to over Rs 3900 crore. 

“I believe entrepreneurs can add a lot of value to our economy. If we want to achieve our $5 trillion economy goal, it can only happen with entrepreneurship. Many entrepreneurs were struggling, they didn't know how to scale up,” Harsh Mariwala, Chairman, Marico, said. 

ASCENT has over 880 entrepreneurs across India participating in India’s growth story for the last 10 years. “It’s my dream to have 10,000 entrepreneurs in this journey. We’re in the process of strengthening the core of ASCENT. Today we have around 1000 members,” Mariwala said. 

He said he expects each of his trust group members to act as ASCENT’s ambassadors. “We will think of newer ways to talk about entrepreneurship and ASCENT, including tying up with influencers. I love interacting with entrepreneurship and showing them a mirror in terms of ideas,” Mariwala adds. 

Designed as a peer-to-peer platform, ASCENT leverages the “power of the collective” and enables entrepreneurs to share experiences, ideas, insights to learn from each other through self-facilitated Trust Groups and an extended network of Enablers. 

According to ASCENT, the composition of these members is quite diverse with a 46:54 split between Manufacturing and Services Industries; 44% Family Businesses; 7% Women Entrepreneurs and in all about 65+ diverse industries are represented in the foundation.